Category Archive: Wreckollection
Jan 01
(megalo)man(iac) of the Year
megalomaniac of the Year: Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad
For his willingness to do anything to hang onto his family’s 45 year control of the presidency of his country, even if that means “accidentally” bombing the same maternity hospital not once but three times in the same week.
Jan 01
Feel Good Story of the Year 2016
Feel Good Story of the Year: Penny Oleksiak
This (previously) unknown 16 year-old Canadian swimmer won Olympic gold, silver and (2) bronze medals the old fashioned way – as an unpaid, unsponsored amateur that just loves her sport.
Runner Up: No elephants were hung over the course of an International Year of Pulses that has “bean” more about brain-dead leaders and their flatlining followers. Better still, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus retired all of their elephants from service on May 2nd of the year.
Jan 01
Sleeper Story of the Year 2016
Sleeper Story of the Year: “Warm-up for Global Warming?”
The Crystal Serenity became the first cruise ship to ever navigate the Northwest Passage. More than 1000 passengers paid as much as $155,000US to participate in the historic 32 day voyage over 7,297 nautical miles. A second cruise is being scheduled to depart in 2017.
Jan 01
Statistic of the Year 2016
Statistic of the Year: “The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prisoners… African Americans make up 6.5% of the American population but 40.2% of the prison populace… While a white male has a 1 in 17 chance of ending up behind bars, for black males it is 1 in 3… The American prison population rose from 196,441 in 1970 to nearly 2.3 million today?”
— a 2016 film documentary entitled. “13th” by Ava DuVernay
Runner Up: Canadians owe $1.68 in household debt for every $1 they make after tax. In September, Statistics Canada reported household liabilities rose to 100.5 per cent of GDP, exceeding the size of its economy for the first time. This means Canadians now owe more than they produce with a higher household debt ratio than any other G-7 country.
Jan 01
Innovation of the Year 2016
Innovation of the Year: Microsoft Skype Translator
This seems to be the innovation that is most readily available now for the universal use of everyone.
See the rest of the field at: http://www.popsci.com/best-whats-new
Jan 01
Movie of the Year 2016
Movie of the Year: Hacksaw Ridge
A war movie whose hero is saving lives as opposed to taking them. Caveat Exempt Her! The movie opens with a touching romantic subplot; however, over 20,000 Americans died at Okinawa and only 7,000 of its 106,000 Japanese defenders survived. Hacksaw Ridge is extremely graphic and perhaps the goriest movie I have ever seen. The Japanese Army’s suicidal defense of Okinawa was a contributing factor leading to America’s decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Honorable mention:
Food Choices: A little documentary with an important message. First choose to watch this doc and then decide what you can do today to: 1) save yourself; 2) save your money; and 3) save the planet. Alternatively you can choose the status quo (to trust the Food Processing Industry and the Big Drug profiteers to continue look out for you, your money and your planet).
13th: The 13th amendment to the American constitution abolished slavery except as a punishment for a crime. This is a convincing documentary about how that caveat was and is being exploited in support of the continued enslavement of African Americans.
What everyone else liked: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2016&p=.htm
Over half (29) of the top 50 movies at the box office in 2016 were either remakes or sequels of previous franchises.
Jan 01
Song of the Year 2016
Song of the Year: Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw
In a year that has been anything but uplifting, this is an inspirational country song that is not about trucks, tractors, whiskey, divorce, and/or all of the above.
Honourable mention:
Feel Invincible by Skillet
Stick To Your Guns by Sick Puppies
Flotscrum’s Twenty-Twone Alternative for the Billbored for the Year 2016
Jan 01
Best Read of the Year 2016:
Best Read of the Year: www.flotscrum.com
A tongue in cheek, naval grazer’s buffet of lintellectual iniespiration, because opinions are like belly-buttons and, although everyone has one, mine is very, very deep (its words, not mine).
Hurting Headitors Note: Although the National Inquirer probably trumped Flotscrum (and perhaps even the bible) in terms of American readership last year, I elect to limit this award to works that cater to a thinking person.
What the other guys liked: https://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by_date/2016
Jan 01
Quote of the Year 2016
Quote of the Year: “That makes me smart.”
—Donald Trump on a claim that for many years he may not have paid federal income tax.